THE DEVELOPMENT OF MORALITY IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER

Abstract

Morality helps guide behaviour and facilitates relationships. Autism spectrum disorder (autism) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by differences in social-communication skills and repetitive or inflexible patterns of behaviour or interests. Research in moral psychology in autism has often been interpreted through a psychopathology model wherein differences are viewed as deficits. The aim of this dissertation was to describe the literature investigating autistic moral thinking from a strengths-based perspective, to identify areas requiring further investigation, and to conduct preliminary investigations of these. Manuscript 1 documents a systematic review of 29 studies of morality in autism. An area for further research identified therein is the application of an alternative theoretical framework to studying morality in autism that is amenable to strengths-based interpretations (i.e., moral foundations theory). I conducted a study using critical incident interviews and qualitative analysis among 6 autistic adults as an initial foray into understanding autistic moral thinking using moral foundations theory (Manuscript 2). I found that all five moral foundations were represented in the interviews, yet certain foundations were more prominent than others. This study set the stage for a mixed methods investigation among autistic and neurotypical children to better understand the manifestations of moral foundations in the two groups (Manuscript 3). This study was conducted in collaboration with two autistic community partners. I examined the moral judgements of 25 autistic and 23 neurotypical children using the Moral Foundations Questionnaire for Kids. I used semi-structured interviews and qualitative analysis with a subgroup of participants to describe children’s moral reasoning. Quantitative and qualitative analyses suggested that autistic and neurotypical children made similar judgements of transgressions across all five moral foundations and that these judgements were primarily driven by how severe children deemed the transgressions to be across groups. This dissertation contributes to the literature as the first empirical investigation of moral foundations theory in autism. This is important because it suggests minimal differences in moral thinking in autistic children while identifying areas that could be different (e.g., recommendations for punishment) and potentially give rise to interpersonal difficulties. This research may therefore help to reduce stigma surrounding social cognition in autism.